Presenilin-based genetic screens in Drosophila melanogaster identify novel notch pathway modifiers.

Presenilin is the enzymatic component of gamma-secretase, a multisubunit intramembrane protease that processes several transmembrane receptors, such as the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Mutations in human Presenilins lead to altered APP cleavage and early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Presenilins also play an essential role in Notch receptor cleavage and signaling.

Internal Federation for Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy nomenclature and treatment for cervical preinvasive disease.

Objective: To examine the effects of IFCPC transformation zone type and treatment modality on outcome from excisional treatments for cervical pre-invasive disease at an inner city colposcopy department.

Materials And Methods: All patients treated within the colposcopy department for whom age, treatment modality, resection margin status at histology and six-month cytologic data was available.

Results: Transformation zone type is affected by patient age.

Inhibitory effects of Cnidium officinale Makino and Tabanus fulvus Meigan on the high glucose-induced proliferation of glomerular mesangial cells.

This study describes a potent activity of Cnidium officinale Makino (Cnidii rhizoma) and Tabanus fulvus Meigan (Tabanus) as an inhibitor of high glucose-induced proliferation of glomerular mesangial cells (GMCs). Raising the ambient glucose concentration from 5.6 to 25 mM for 24 h caused a dramatic increase in [3H]thymidine incorporation, and these increases were attenuated by treatment of GMCs with the extracts of Cnidii rhizoma and Tabanus (2.

Randomized double-blind trial comparing oral paracetamol and oral nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs for treating pain after musculoskeletal injury.

Study Objective: We investigate the efficacy and safety of oral paracetamol compared with oral nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs or combination therapy in relieving pain after blunt limb injury in an emergency department (ED).

Methods: This was a double-blind, randomized, controlled study in an ED of a university hospital in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Three hundred adult patients with painful isolated limb injuries were enrolled.

Yukmijihwang-tang ameliorates ischemia/reperfusion-induced renal injury in rats.

The present study was designed to examine whether Yukmijihwang-tang (YJT), which is a Korean decoction for the treatment of renal disease, has an effect on renal functional parameters in association with the expression of aquaporin 2 (AQP 2), Na,K-ATPase, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in rats with ischemia/reperfusion-induced acute renal failure (ARF). Polyuria caused by down-regulation of renal AQP 2 in the ischemia/reperfusion-induced ARF rats was markedly restored by administration of YJT (100 or 200 mg/kg, p.o.

Anti-atherogenic effects of the methanol extract of Sorbus cortex in atherogenic-diet rats.

The present study was designed to examine whether the methanol extract of Sorbus commixta cortex (MSC) could prevent the development of atherosclerosis through regulating the vascular nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) systems in atherogenic-diet rats. Our findings show that aortic NO production as well as endothelial nitric oxide synthase (ecNOS) expression was significantly decreased in atherogenic-diet rats compared with those in the control group. Aortic ET-1 expression was augmented in rats fed an atherogenic-diet while NF-kappaB p65 was upregulated.

Effect of methanol extract of Sorbus cortex in a rat model of L-NAME-induced atherosclerosis.

Chronic inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by administration of high dose of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME) induces vascular inflammation and subsequent atherosclerosis. We aimed to investigate whether the methanol extract of Sorbus commixta cortex (MSC) is able to prevent inflammatory process in a rat model of L-NAME-induced atherosclerosis. Chronic treatment with low or high doses of MSC prevented the L-NAME-induced increase in monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) p65 expressions as well as adhesion molecules including intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and E-selectin in aorta.

Effects of Korean traditional herbal remedy on heart rate variability: linear and nonlinear analysis.

Heart rate variability was compared in 20 subjects taking traditional herbal remedy (Ondamtanggamibang) or placebo control pill, in placebo controlled design experiment. Herbal remedy group reported more pleasant and clam emotions than did the placebo group. Herbal remedy reduced the heart rate and increased heart rate variability (HRV) as indicated by a reduced low frequency/high frequency power ratio of heart rate variability.

Left-right and Yin-Yang balance of biophoton emission from hands.

Yearlong measurements of biophotons from palm and back of hand of three healthy people were performed. The detection of biophoton was done with two photomultiplier tubes whose spectral range was from 300 nm to 650 nm. The measurement was done on a circular area of diameter 46 mm whose centers were at the acupuncture point Laogong (PC8) of a palm and the mid-point of a back, respectively.

Typhoid fever associated with acute appendicitis caused by an H1-j strain of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi.

While most strains of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi, the etiologic agent of typhoid fever, have only a phase 1 flagellar antigen, H1-d, variations of the flagellar antigen have been observed. Although H1-j strains (one of the flagellar antigen variants) account for 10 to 50% of S. enterica serotype Typhi strains found in Indonesia, there have been no published data to suggest its existence in other parts of the world.

Year-long biophoton measurements: normalized frequency count analysis and seasonal dependency.

Biophoton emissions from three healthy human subjects were measured for 52 weeks. The active nature of dorsal hands and personal discernable patterns in palmar hands were investigated through frequency count analysis of biophoton emission rates. Also, the seasonal dependency of biophoton emission rates from human hands was studied and we found that emission rates were lowest in autumn.

In vitro immunomodulatory activity of Bo-yang-hwan-o-tang.

Bo-yang-hwan-o-tang (BHT), an herbal decoction has been mainly used for improvement of blood flow in oriental medicine. Its in vivo immunomodulation was recently demonstrated but the effective mechanisms have not been described. This study was carried out to evaluate in vitro immunomodulatory activity of BHT.

The cytoskeleton and epidermal morphogenesis in C. elegans.

During Caenorhabditis elegans development, the process of epidermal elongation converts the bean-shaped embryo into the long thin shape of the larval worm. Epidermal elongation results from changes in the shape of epidermal cells, which in turn result from changes in the epidermal cytoskeleton, the extracellular matrix, and in cell-matrix adhesion junctions. Here, we review the roles of cytoskeletal filament systems in epidermal cell shape change during elongation.

Coeliac disease-associated antibodies correlate with psoriasis activity.

Background: Antigliadin antibodies (AGA) have been reported in patients with psoriasis.

Objectives: To determine if AGA and other coeliac disease (CD)-associated antibodies correlate with clinical features and activity in patients with psoriasis.

Methods: Patients with psoriasis (n = 130) were investigated for serum IgG and IgA AGA, IgA antitransglutaminase antibody and IgA antiendomysial antibody.

Catalposide, a compound isolated from catalpa ovata, attenuates induction of intestinal epithelial proinflammatory gene expression and reduces the severity of trinitrobenzene sulfonic Acid-induced colitis in mice.

Certain irinoid-producing plants have been used as herbal anti-inflammatory remedies. Here we evaluated whether catalposide (CATP), a single compound isolated from irinoid-producing plant Catalpa ovata, has a potential for preventing or ameliorating diseases characterized by mucosal inflammation. Preliminary microarray-based gene expression test revealed that CATP, which alone did not significantly affect expression of any of the >8,000 genes analyzed, attenuated the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced proinflammatory genes including interleukin-8 (IL-8) in human intestinal epithelial HT-29 cells.

Refractive errors in medical students in Singapore.

Introduction: Refractive errors are becoming more of a problem in many societies, with prevalence rates of myopia in many Asian urban countries reaching epidemic proportions. This study aims to determine the prevalence rates of various refractive errors in Singapore medical students.

Methods: 157 second year medical students (aged 19-23 years) in Singapore were examined.

External Qi therapy to treat symptoms of Agent Orange Sequelae in Korean combat veterans of the Vietnam War.

We investigated the efficacy of Qi therapy as a non-pharmacological treatment for various symptoms presented by Korean combat veterans of the Vietnam War with Agent Orange Sequelae. Nine subjects volunteered to receive 30 minutes of Qi therapy, twice per day for 7 days. There was marked improvement in 89% of the patients with impaired physical activity, 86% of those with psychological disorder, 78% of those with heavy drug use, and 67% of those with fatigue, indigestion and high blood glucose levels.

Multifocal basal cell carcinoma developing in a facial port wine stain treated with argon and pulsed dye laser: a possible role for previous radiotherapy.

Background: Basal cell carcinoma occurring in port wine stain is extremely rare but has been reported after radiotherapy for port wine stain.

Objective: The objective was to present 55-year-old man with a facial port wine stain who had multiple treatment sessions with both the argon laser and the pulsed dye laser and subsequently developed a recurrent multifocal basal cell carcinoma and highlight the treatment carried out and its effects on the outcome.

Methods: We describe the history of the patient's port wine stain treatment, the development of skin cancer within it, and the different modalities of therapy carried out.

Left-right asymmetry of biophoton emission from hemiparesis patients.

Left-right biophoton asymmetry from the palm and the dorsum of hands from 7 Korean hemiparesis patients were studied. There is a strong tendency that the left-hemiparesis patients emit more biophotons from the right than the left hands, while the right-hemiparesis patient emits more from the left hand. Acupuncture treatment reduces dramatically the left-right asymmetry of biophoton emission rates.

Photon counting statistics analysis of biophotons from hands.

The photon counting statistics of biophotons emitted from hands is studied with a view to test its agreement with the Poisson distribution. The moments of observed probability up to seventh order have been evaluated. The moments of biophoton emission from hands are in good agreement while those of dark counts of photomultiplier tube show large deviations from the theoretical values of Poisson distribution.

Antitumor activity of Soamsan, a traditional Korean medicine, via suppressing angiogenesis and growth factor transcription.

Antiangiogenic and antitumor activities of Soamsan known as an anticancer remedy in traditional Korean medicine were examined. In contrast to the normal branching of vascular vessels in chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), blood vessels in CAM treated with Soamsan (50 microg per egg) were run parallel to each other with less branching. Oral administration of Soamsan (20 mg/kg per day) for 4 weeks significantly inhibited the rat corneal neovascularization induced by suture, and the length of blood vessels in Soamsan-treated rat cornea was conspicuously low compared to control.

Inhibitory effect of miconazole on melanogenesis.

Miconazole (MIC), a regional antifungal agent, has been used worldwide in the treatment of superficial mycosis. However, the effect of MIC on skin pigmentation is not known. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of MIC on melanogenesis in B16 melanoma cells.

Butein ameliorates renal concentrating ability in cisplatin-induced acute renal failure in rats.

The present study examined whether the cisplatin-induced nephropathy could be ameliorated by administration of butein isolated from the stems of Rhus verniciflua STOCKS. The present study showed that polyuric profile was revealed in cisplatin-induced acute renal failure (ARF) rats associated with decreases in urinary sodium, potassium, chloride, and creatinine excretion, and osmolality. Among these renal functional parameters, urinary volume and osmolality were partially restored by administration of butein (10 mg/kg, i.

Intermediate filaments are required for C. elegans epidermal elongation.

Cytoplasmic intermediate filaments (cIFs) are thought to provide mechanical strength to vertebrate cells; however, their function in invertebrates has been largely unexplored. The Caenorhabditis elegans genome encodes multiple cIFs. The C.

Evaluating the efficacy of treatment of resistant port-wine stains with variable-pulse 595-nm pulsed dye and 532-nm Nd:YAG lasers.

Background: Some port wine stains (PWSs), despite multiple treatments with the 585-nm 0.45-ms pulsed dye laser (PDL), fail to improve substantially.

Objective: To determine the efficacy and tolerability of variable pulse width 595-nm PDL and 532-nm Nd:YAG laser in the treatment of resistant PWS.